Fox News "Hannity" - Transcript Interview with Kevin Stitt
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Here to explain more on all of this is the governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt.
Governor, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
GOV. KEVIN STITT (R), OKLAHOMA: Oh, it's my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
CHAFFETZ: Now, Governor, you got your hands full. You got a massive amount of people that want to see the president action. But you got some outside agitators that want to mix the pot here.
What is Oklahoma going to do to make sure it doesn't devolved into some sort of chaos?
STITT: Well, we have -- I'm not worried about Oklahomans actually. We have plenty of security there. We've been reopened now for 57 days. We were the first state to come out of this. We've been in phase three since June 1st.
So, we're excited. We been having Little League games right -- so far, and Oklahoma has been open for business since June 1st fully.
And so, that's why the president chose Oklahoma to come to have the first rally. But this is the first rally of many that he's going to hold through November.
CHAFFETZ: I mean, you have a massive crowd. Are you concerned about having 19,000 people in close proximity? Is it safe for those people to gather so closely in such large numbers?
STITT: Well, we've taken the precautions necessary. And we're -- we're about freedoms in Oklahoma.
So I told Oklahomans, you are free to come to this rally. You're free to stay home. You're free to protect your families how you need to.
And remember, we've been open for 57 days and we have 211 people in the hospital across the state of Oklahoma, 211.
And so, we are testing way many more people. We are seeing people of asymptomatics that are testing positive.
But again, we look at hospitalizations. We've built plenty of capacity. We have 5,000 beds available. And that's why we issued 25 executive orders which really to slow the spread, and we've done that in Oklahoma.
CHAFFETZ: So, you have these massive crowds. You had nearly a million tickets demanded out there, people pre-filling out their applications and whatnot to come in.
What are you going to do with all these people that literally could be hundreds of thousands of people trying to come and you only got 19,000 seats indoors? What about those other people? What are you going to do with them?
STITT: Well, there is an overflow crowd, but it really is a testament that people are ready to move on and especially in Oklahoma. We have to learn how to deal with this virus. It's not like it's going to magically disappear in August or September.
So, other states -- we're several months ahead of other states. And so, we know people are going to be there. There will be people outside. It just really underscores the fact that people are ready to get back to their normal lives. And people are excited to see President Trump and we're excited to have him and host in our -- in our great state.
CHAFFETZ: Now, explain the enthusiasm because my guess is, I'm just guessing here, but if Joe Biden showed up, I don't know if you can go to a high school gymnasium and fill it up.
So, what's the difference of the enthusiasm here?
STITT: You know, President Trump just brings out enthusiasm in people. You can see it with the ticket sales. So -- or the ticket requests. There's 1 million out there.
Again, I'm assuming that Biden will have events like this across the country, leading up to November's election. Americans need to be able to meet their candidates and see who they want to choose as president. And there's a million people looking to meet President Trump on Saturday night in Tulsa.
CHAFFETZ: You know, I actually happen to believe, I think it's good. I want Joe Biden to go out and try to make his case and compare and contrast.
Governor, you got your hands full. I think it's going to be an amazing event. And hats off to you in the progress that Oklahoma has made, and congratulations for being able to host this.
So, Governor, thank you for joining us tonight.
STITT: Thank you.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source